St. Louis Encephalitis Virus in the Southwestern United States: A Phylogeographic Case for a Multi-Variant Introduction Event.

ABSTRACT: Since the reemergence of St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE) Virus (SLEV) in the Southwest United States, identified during the 2015 outbreak in Arizona, SLEV has been seasonally detected within Culex spp. populations throughout the Southwest United States. Previous work revealed the 2015 outbreak was caused by an importation of SLEV genotype III, which had only been detected previously in Argentina. However, little is known about when the importation occurred or the transmission and genetic dynamics since its arrival into the Southwest. In this study, we sought to determine whether the annual detection of SLEV in the Southwest is due to enzootic cycling or new importations. To address this question, we analyzed 174 SLEV genomes (142 sequenced as part of this study) using Bayesian phylogen

SUBMITTER: Ridenour CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8217752 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature